Five Americans Remain Captives Under Hamas

(LibertySociety.com) – Following the devastating attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists held more than 250 people hostage, some of them American citizens.

Roughly 120 remain in captivity, five of whom are Americans. On May 6, Hamas announced that it had agreed to a ceasefire with Israel, but the declaration was news to the Jewish state. The alleged agreement, which was brokered by Egyptian and Qatari officials, would have allowed 33 Israeli hostages to be released. In exchange, several hundred Palestinian prisoners in Israel would be released for 42 days. Additionally, the supposed deal included an agreement to rebuild Gaza.

Israeli officials said that the deal did not resemble the agreement that the country had recently worked on with Egypt. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the terrorist group’s offer was “very far from Israel’s core demands.” Despite Israel’s opposition to Hamas’s offer, the country sent delegates to Cairo to learn more about it and decided if an agreement could be made. Netanyahu has repeatedly said that he would not agree to end the war until Hamas had been destroyed.

American officials have all but stopped talking about the American hostages held by Hamas, but one media outlet set out to remind the public. Hersh Goldberg-Polin is from Berkeley, California, but has lived in Israel since he was seven years old. He was taken hostage while attending the Supernova music festival. Keith Siegel, along with his wife Aviva Seigel, were sold to Hamas as hostages by Palestinian civilians. Keith Siegel is originally from North Carolina, while his wife is from South Africa. Keith Siegel has lived in Israel since 1980. His wife was released from captivity back in November, but Keith was not so lucky.

Sagui Dekel-Chen was originally from Connecticut but lived in Israel with his wife and children. He was taken hostage outside of his home as Hamas terrorists scoured through their community. Edan Alexander was raised in New Jersey but was born in Israel. He joined the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) after high school and was captured by Hamas during the attack. Omer Neutra also served in the IDF but was originally from New York. He was taken hostage while protecting the Israeli border at the time of the attack.